By Luzi Ann Javier Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures rallied as persistent drought disrupted planting of the next crop in Russia, Kazakhstan and East Ukraine amid sustained purchases by Egypt, the world’s biggest buyer. December delivery wheat gained as much as 1.1 percent to $7.44 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before trading at $7.4225 at 9:52 a.m. in Singapore. The contract slumped as much as 2 percent yesterday after Australia, the world’s fourth- largest exporter of the grain, said shipments in the 2010-2011 season may be the second-highest on record. Grain and oilseed-growing regions in the former Soviet Union will likely have “extremely dry conditions” through Sept. 20, hampering planting and early crop development, Telvent DTN Inc said in a forecast yesterday. “Concerns remain throughout many Russian grain-growing regions, which are yet to see a sufficient increase in moisture to enable winter-wheat planting,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report e-mailed today. Russia, the world’s third-largest grower in the past season, banned grain exports until next year’s harvest amid the worst drought in at least 50 years. Egypt, the biggest importer, plans to buy at least 55,000 metric tons in a tender today for shipment from Nov. 1 to Nov. 10. The country is seeking supplies from the U.S., France, the U.K., Germany, Canada, Argentina or Australia, Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of the state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities, said yesterday from Cairo. Overtaking Canada The Australian government forecast the nation’s exports may be 18.4 million tons in the 2010-2011 season, which would see the country overtake Canada as the third-largest shipper. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics’s forecast is 2.9 million tons more than the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate on Sept. 10. The two biggest shippers are the U.S. and the European Union, according to the USDA. The revision in Abare’s forecast for Australia’s wheat harvest to a five-year high of 25.1 million tons “pressured global prices,” Commonwealth Bank said. “More importantly for the world market, the exportable crop in Western Australia was downgraded by 2 million tons, and further downgrades could occur in the future,” Commonwealth Bank said. Western Australia’s wheat harvest will fall to 6.06 million tons in the 2010-2011 season, from an estimated 8.248 million tons in the previous season, Abare said. The state had the second-driest start to the year on record, and the driest winter on record for the southwest region, Abare said in a report yesterday. Western Australia had “serious to severe rainfall deficiencies over much of the winter cropping belt” between January and August, it said. Corn for December delivery advanced for a fifth day, rising 0.4 percent to $4.97 a bushel, while November-delivery soybeans climbed 0.5 percent to $10.4025 a bushel. To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net

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